More of Annabeth Chase
by amillionsmiles
Summary: A bunch of scenes from the series, but taken from Annabeth's perspective.
1. Ruined Day

It wasn't official, but Seaweed Brain and I had a date.

We were going to the movies after he finished his orientation. The New York sky was a clear blue, and the cumulus clouds were white and puffy, like billowing cotton balls. It seemed as if nothing could go wrong. I was counting on the perfect day and felt that the odds were it _would _be perfect. I should've known better. The odds are never in a demigod's favor. I knew that the moment Percy ran down the steps of his school looking as if he'd almost burned it down and was being pursued by angry empousai. Which, I learned later, was partially true.

At first I didn't know what was going on. I took it easy. "Hey, you're out early!" I greeted, grabbing him by the shoulders. If I hadn't, he would've tumbled to the cement and ended up with a good size scrape. "Watch where you're going, Seaweed Brain." I smiled at him and squeezed his shoulders a little tighter. Then, streaking out after him came a red-haired girl that I didn't think I'd ever seen before.

"Percy, wait up!" she yelled. There was an expression of confusion on my face. Who was she? I heard the blaring of smoke alarms in the background.

"What did you do this time? And who is this?" I came right out and asked.

"Oh, Rachel – Annabeth. Annabeth – Rachel. Um, she's a friend. I guess," Percy introduced, remembering his manners.

"Hi," was all Rachel said before she turned on Percy. "You are in _so _much trouble! And you still owe me an explanation!" I felt like interjecting. Hounding Percy was my job. Police sirens cut through the tension.

"Percy," I said, "We should go." I was trying to make the point that I didn't appreciate that mortal girl getting in the way of what was supposed to be our perfect day. It was the one time we wouldn't be tailed by monsters, hopefully, and he had to go blowing up his school.

"I want to know more about half-bloods," Rachel persisted. "And monsters. And this stuff about the gods. You're going to call me and explain, okay? You owe me that. Now get going," as if she were his mother, or his best friend. She whipped out a marker and scribbled on his hand.

"But –" Percy barely got a word out before Rachel interjected.

"I'll make up some story. I'll tell them it wasn't your fault. Just go!" Rachel turned away with a swish of her red hair, back to the direction of the school, leaving Percy and I alone in silence. I took one look at him and then ran away from the alley.

"Hey!" I could hear Percy following behind, "There were these two _empousai._ They were cheerleaders, see, and they said camp was going to burn, and –"

"You told a mortal girl about half-bloods?" I said, trying to keep my voice level.

"She can see through the Mist. She saw the monsters before I did," Percy explained.

"So you told her the truth."

"She recognized me from Hoover Dam, so –"

"You've met her before?" That was the last straw. What were the chances that Percy would see that specific girl, Rachel, at school, again, on the day WE were SUPPOSED to be having FUN?

"Um, last winter. But seriously, I barely know her," Percy said, sensing my irritation.

"She's kind of cute," I blurted out, just to gauge Percy's reaction.

"I – I never thought about it," Percy stuttered. Oh _sure_, he probably had. "I'll deal with the school," Percy promised, "Honest, it'll be fine." I didn't look at Percy.

"I guess our afternoon is off. We should get you out of here, now that the police will be searching for you."

We made our way through the alley and located a taxi. I stared off into the distance, Rachel and Percy and empousai swimming before my eyes.

Gods. Sometimes I hated Percy.


	2. You'd Better Survive

**Okay, so I forgot to put this on the first chapter, but just letting you know: the dialogue isn't mine, it's from the book. The descriptions and Annabeth's thoughts/feelings, however, are mine, mostly.**

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New York City was a wreck. The whole populace was under the sleep spell, leaving us demigods alone and isolated. Percy and I rushed towards where the Apollo cabin was holding their ground. Michael Yew approached us, grinning.

"Glad you could join us. Where are the other reinforcements?"

"For now, we're it," Percy informed grimly.

"Then we're dead," he said. Which pretty much mirrored my thoughts, except less eloquently. _Hope, Annabeth, hope_, I reminded myself. We couldn't give up, not now.

"You still have your flying chariot?" I asked Michael, trying to piece together what we had that might give us an advantage.

"Nah," Michael answered. "Left it at camp. I told Clarisse she could have it. Whatever, you know? Not worth fighting about anymore. But she said it was too late. We'd insulted her honor for the last time or some stupid thing." Well, that was just great. We were missing a flying chariot and the Ares cabin. Go figure.

"Least you tried," Percy commented. Michael gave a small shrug.

"Yeah, well, I called her some names when she said she still wouldn't fight. I doubt that helped." He broke off abruptly. "Here come the uglies!" Notching an arrow in his bow, he fired it off at the approaching monsters. The arrow shrieked through the air. When it landed, a huge boom of sound caused cars to explode. More importantly, several monsters ran, covered their ears, or disintegrated.

"That was my last sonic arrow," Michael said, with a tinge of disappointment.

"A gift from your dad?" Percy guessed. "God of music?"

"Loud music can be bad for you," Michael said, grinning. "Unfortunately, it doesn't always kill." I looked towards the scattered monsters, the ones the arrow hadn't finished off. They were already getting themselves back together.

"We have to fall back," Michael urged. "Kayla and Austin are setting traps farther down the bridge."

"No. Bring your campers forward to this position and wait for my signal. We're driving the enemy back to Brooklyn," Percy instructed. Michael laughed, half-heartedly. I glanced at Percy uneasily.

"How do you plan to do that?" Michael asked skeptically. Percy drew Riptide.

"Percy," I spoke up, "let me come with you." No way was he going out to battle without me.

"Too dangerous," Percy told me. "Besides, I need you to help Michael coordinate the defensive line. I'll distract the monsters. You group up here. Move the sleeping mortals out of the way. Then you can start picking off monsters while I keep them focused on me. If anybody can do that, you can." So it was a compliment, but also another way of saying _"stay put and don't get hurt."_ But whatever. I would help in whatever way possible.

Michael snorted. "Thanks a lot." Percy didn't look at him – instead, his eyes were still on me. Although I objected with his proposal, I nodded reluctantly. No sense in wasting precious time.

"All right. Get moving," I urged him on. We couldn't stand here all day. Percy opened his mouth to say something. Looking at his eyes, it seemed like he was conflicted. Finally, he blurted out, "Don't I get a kiss for luck? It's kind of a tradition, right?"

It took a lot of effort to regroup my thoughts so I didn't stand there stuttering like a fool. For a moment I thought punching him in the gut might be a good answer, but looking at Percy again, with his hair falling in his eyes and a sort-of-hopeful look, my heart squeezed a little bit. I drew my knife to busy my mind with something else, and focused my attention on the approaching enemy.

"Come back alive, Seaweed Brain. Then we'll see." I wished him luck. He'd better survive.


	3. On Fire

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rick Riordan. Dialogue is taken directly from the book - the only things I own are Annabeth's thoughts. :)**

**From The Last Olympian**

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Fire. My insides felt as if they were on fire. Granted, I'd just be stabbed in the side with a knife, but gods…it _hurt._ I sucked in a deep breath. Better me than Percy, I supposed. And I was still alive. My body felt hot and cold all over, but the nectar had really helped. Will had done a good job.

Percy rushed into the room, looking flustered. I turned my head weakly to face him as he bent over my bedside, his eyebrows knit together as he examined me. He reached up, putting his hand on my forehead. It felt cool on my hot skin.

"You're cute when you're worried," I muttered, feeling slightly delirious. "Your eyebrows get all scrunched together." I almost blushed after the words left my mouth, but my cheeks were so flushed already I doubted Percy noticed. But it felt somewhat good, getting something as trivial as that out in the open.

"You are _not_ going to die while I owe you a favor," Percy uttered with great conviction. "Why did you take that knife?"

"You would've done the same for me." I knew he would. Staring into his eyes only solidified that fact. My heart clenched as I saw how worried he was.

"How did you know?" Percy asked.

"Know what?"

Percy's eyes darted around the room, making sure that we were alone. He leaned in closer, his breath warm on my face. "My Achilles spot," he whispered. "If you hadn't taken that knife, I would've died."

For a few seconds I zoned out. How had I known? I wasn't sure. It was just a feeling – and when you were a demigod, you learned to trust your feelings. "I don't know, Percy. I just had this feeling you were in danger. Where…where is the spot?" I asked, dying to know.

"The small of my back," Percy replied. I lifted my hand, the small gesture taking great effort.

"Where? Here?" I asked, my fingers trailing along his spine. Percy reached for my hand, guiding it to the exact spot. When my hand touched it I felt a jolt of electricity – but whether it was because of my proximity to Percy or because I had found the spot, I didn't know.

"You saved me," Percy said. "Thanks." I moved my hand, but Percy kept holding on to it. I didn't mind. I felt safe, reassured. I couldn't remember the last time we'd been this close, touching like this – but it was comforting. Having Percy beside me eased some of the pain, in this unexplainable way.

"So you owe me," I managed, weakly. "What else is new?" I left the question hanging – it wasn't really one that needed an answer. Instead, Percy and I turned to face the window, looking out at the sunrise now dawning on the sleeping city. I could see a column of black smoke wind its way lazily up into the sky, and my hand was still in Percy's. For a moment, things seemed peaceful. Almost. I couldn't forget that today was another day in our ceaseless battle, that we had to hold Olympus for the gods, that the world depended on our success. And that this war was, in some twisted way, my fault, because of what I had failed to do when Luke showed up at my door a year ago. That meeting was the reason Hermes was mad at me. My gaze moved back to Percy. He'd asked why Hermes was mad at me, and now seemed like a good time to tell him.

"You asked me why Hermes was mad at me," I started, disrupting the easy silence we'd fallen into.

"Hey, you need to rest –"

"No, I want to tell you. It's been bothering me for a long time." I shifted on my shoulder, the movement jarring me and making it hurt more. I winced. "Last year, Luke came to see me in San Francisco."

"In person?" Percy asked, sounding…hurt? I couldn't place it. "He came to your house?" I felt a sudden need to justify the reason for Luke's visit.

"This was before we went into the Labyrinth, before…" I trailed off, not wanting to name what Luke had become, but Percy knew what I meant. "He came under a flag of truce. He said he only wanted five minutes to talk. He looked scared, Percy. He told me Kronos was going to use him to take over the world. He said he wanted to run away, like the old days. He wanted me to come with him."

"But you didn't trust him." _I wanted to,_ I thought bitterly.

"Of course not. I thought it was a trick. Plus…well, a lot of things had changed since the old days. I told Luke there was no way. He got mad. He said…he said I might as well fight him right there, because it was the last chance I'd get." I had to stop and catch my breath. Every word hurt, physically, but also emotionally.

"It's okay," Percy said, soothingly. "Try to get some rest."

"You don't understand, Percy. Hermes was right. Maybe if I'd gone with him, I could've changed his mind. Or – or if I had a knife. Luke was unarmed, I could've –" I babbled, afraid of where my thoughts were taking me, but not wanting to stop.

"Killed him?" Percy asked. "You know that wouldn't have been right." I squeezed my eyes shut, suddenly feeling exhausted. No, it wouldn't have been, but death would have been better than what had happened to Luke.

"Luke said Kronos would use him _like a stepping stone_. Those were his exact words. Kronos would use Luke, and become even more powerful."

"He did that," Percy pointed out. "He possessed Luke's body." But my mind was racing ahead of this, because it wasn't that easy – nothing was that easy.

"But what if Luke's body is only a transition? What if Kronos has a plan to become even more powerful? I could've stopped him. The war is my fault," I said. Percy looked at me, but at the same time he seemed far away, as if he was remembering something. At that moment Connor came into the room. He glanced at me before delivering his news.

"Percy. Mrs. O'Leary just came back with Grover. I think you should talk to her."


End file.
